Back in the saddle again!!!

[Slidergirl]

OK. I decided today was the day that I got back on my skis for the first time in 4 years. One missed year was due to shoulder surgery, one year for divorce trauma, and last year for my shattered left leg. I wasn't worried that I wouldn't remember how to ski, but I was worried how my repaired leg would handle it. I'm 14 months out from the injury and surgery #1, and 10 months in of physical therapy.
I took my first run on the First Time run. I figured I could always just let the skis run. First turn, skid, second turn, skid. OK. Definite issue turning left - my leg wobbles a little. But, I did it. Took another chair up and tried another run where I could get up some speed. OK. Not too bad. YES!!! I remember how to ski!!! I just have to trust to bend that leg. The top of my fibula at my knee hurts a little when I put downward pressure on my boots - I think that's due to the way my leg is now aligned. I'll have to play with my stance a bit to figure out what is most comfy. But, I did a few more runs before calling it a day. I didn't want to overdo it the first day.
I got back to the car and took off my boots. The front part of my ankle started to hurt. At least I now know what I have to work on in PT. A couple of 400mg Advil and an ice pack will do their thing this afternoon.
Anyway, I just wanted to say YES, there is life skiing after surgery!!! I won't be the hard-charging girl I used to be, but I'll enjoy quietly motoring down my double blues

 

[ski now work later]

Congratulations Slidergirl! Once you are skiing regularly again, you'll find yourself a whole new skier, after all, you are a new person after all you've been through. Glad it went well; looking forward to your next ski report!

 

[RachelV]

Congrats! 4 years is a long time -- it must have felt amazing to get out there after everything you've been through.

 

[Slidergirl]

Thanks for the congrats all.

Yeah, I haven't skied for awhile. I was indeed nervous. I mean, the last time I skied, I had my non-shaped Volants. But, as with so many other things that I've changed in my life lately, I've changed skis

I have to go back to my bootfitter and see if we can make a little change to the boot around my left big toe - it's the one that has nerve damage from my surgery on my leg. I think it needs just a tad more room - anything that touches on the side makes it hurt.

Now, it's back to work for 4 days, then I get to ski again!!

 

[ski diva]

SG, you deserve a lot of credit for getting out there again after everything you've been through. Going from straight to shaped skis is enough of an adjustment, even without coming back after a prolonged absence. You go, girl!

Keep us posted as to how you do with your bootfitter.

 

[volklgirl]

Congratulations!!

 

[Slidergirl]

Thanks all!

I'll hit the bootfitter on Thursday, my first day off. It should be a little fix. The guys here at Surefoot Park City are great.

I thought I'd have more problems going to the shaped skis. But, they are so smooth and comfy, they made it easy for me.

 

[Ski Fanatic Mom]

Hey Slidergirl,
I know your feeling of happiness to be out there but disappointment over not being able to ski where ya left off before the injuries. I took my first couple of runs after fracturing my tibial plateau last Feb. I also ski with pain in the knee area, but I have found that the more I ski, the less it hurts. Maybe we just have to wake up some muscles that have atrophied over the course of our recoveries. Enjoy being back out there...

 

[Slidergirl]

Oh, I am going to enjoy it! I'm sure some of the pain was just from not having that much torque on my leg in a long time.

I'm going to make a visit to my physical therapist again this week just to verify what I think is wrong and to get a few exercises to do. He'll give me a free evaluation on it.

I didn't have many tickets to scan today - I was at one of the outpost lifts today. So, I got to spend my downtime doing some legwork - toe raises, skier squats, side-to-side moves.

 

[Slidergirl]

YeeHaa! A GREAT Day!

It was a wonderful, warm, blue sky day. That was actually the icing on the cupcake for today.

I went to my bootfitter. I told him what was bothering me. He took my boot and went in back for about 2 minutes, then came out with a pad on the tongue of the boot. I tried it on - that was fixed. But, then, I suddenly remembered that the outside ankle bone hurt pretty badly where my hardware in my leg ends. He took the boot again, and came back just as fast with a pad between the liner and the shell. I tried it on again - no pain! I slapped on the Victorys and went for a run. I had NO pain at all!!! YeeHaa! I ended up skiing 3 hours straight, going from lift to lift to say "hi" to my fellow lifties. There were no lines at all at Park City today, so the only time I had not skiing was on the lift. It was so much fun. I definitely caught myself smiling and singing a few times. I even did one double blue without any trouble. My knee didn't hurt at all today, so whatever I've done the past week and the boot tweaks all did their thing. Now, my quads were a little shaky at the end, but those will come about as I get better. I was walking like an old woman when I finished, but I do that every night when I come home from work :p
My great day skiing only became better when I yielded to the pull of Divadom and bought a pair of Auras, and to put the cherry on all of it, I got a new Oakley nice green jacket at 30% off. NO MORE SPENDING!!!

 

[Jilly]

My great day skiing only became better when I yielded to the pull of Divadom and bought a pair of Auras, and to put the cherry on all of it, I got a new Oakley nice green jacket at 30% off. NO MORE SPENDING!!!

Now that is the Diva way!! Congrat on a great day! You're back in the saddle again for sure.

 

[skibum4ever]

Congratulations, slidergirl. As someone who suffered both a tibia plateau fracture and a broken ankle 2 seasons ago, I cherish every moment on skis. I too had to make some boot changes; in fact, I replaced my regular liner with a custom Zipfit liner to accomodate the new shape of my ankle.

I share your joy.

 

[Slidergirl]

Is the sign of Diva-itis the wild spending of massive sums of money on skis, boots, clothes??? If it is, I'm seriously afflicted

I did ante up and buy the new boots with custom liners back at the end of November. I just needed some time back on skis to find out what truly fit and what hurt. Wearing them around the house didn't show up all of the issues. Hey, I could deal with a trial period, when it only took maybe 5 minutes total to make them fit just fine. They were definitely worth the money I paid for them!!

 

[cyn]

Slidergirl, I LOVED your description of your ski day after your boots were tweaked. I could feel your enthusiasm, for sure.
After all you've been through and all the waiting, you definitely deserve this. Enjoy every minute!

 

[Slidergirl]

Thanks all again.

It's so nice to be able to relay my reactions to good days with some women, even if I've never met you all.

The good thing about living in Park City is that I have 2 of the best resorts for groomers right in my back yard! Both even have some great groomed double blues and an occasional black. So, I am perfectly content to ski around here. The fact that I can ski both of them free (PCMR anytime and Deer Valley 2x a week) because I work for PCMR is a total bonus.

 

[LilaBear]

Slidergirl it's great to hear your stories and share your excitement.

You are definitely a Grade A Diva, impulse purchases ............ nice.
(NB they are not impulse purchases but long awaited needs unexpectedly fulfilled.)

 

[Jenny]

Congratulations! And what a way to cap off a good day - shopping!

 

[Lisamarie]

I won't be the hard-charging girl I used to be, but I'll enjoy quietly motoring down my double blues

Nothing wrong with that! Congrats!

 

[Slidergirl]

Again, thanks to all the support I've received from you great Divas!

 

[ski now work later]

Slidergirl that is so great that your boots are working for you and you're back to skiing! 3 hours is a long time to ski with no lift lines and fast lifts, so it sounds like you're doing great. Can't wait to see what you think of the Auras....